Friday, March 28, 2014

Claude Giroux responded from a disappointing Wednesday contest, finishing with a goal and two assists and
Steve Mason made 32 saves, as the Orange and Black prolonged Toronto's recent
stretch of misery with a 4-2 home decision on Friday.

The captain's splurge after two dry outings vaulted him into third place on the NHL list with 78 points. Only Sidney Crosby (97) and Ryan Getzlaf (80) rank higher.

Vincent
Lecavalier, Wayne Simmonds and Scott Hartnell also provided offense
for the Flyers, who snapped a two-game slide and have won six of
their last eight overall heading into a Sunday afternoon matchup with
Atlantic Division leading Boston.

After the Rangers lost in Calgary, there is once again a one-point difference between the clubs for second place in the Metropolitan Division.

“I
think it bothered us the last couple of games. They were poor efforts, we
were soft on pucks; I think everyone was just very, very tentative," Hartnell admitted.
"Tonight we wanted to have some jump, get on their
D, get some fore-checks going. For 60 minutes, I think we did a great
job of that and it showed at the end of the night.”

Dave Bolland and James van
Riemsdyk tallied for the Maple Leafs, who suffered their seventh
consecutive defeat. Jonathan Bernier allowed four scores on 29 shots
as Toronto failed to pick up a point and gain ground in the race for a
wild-card berth in the East.

In a one-goal contest, Mason
began the third with two quick stops in close from Leafs captain Dion
Phaneuf, then Bernier countered by chasing away a Jakub Voracek
chance.

"At
times, there was some extra space. They have some guys who can really
fly on that team, especially their top line. When guys are working for
their space, they can
create opportunities, and both ways it happened tonight," Mason said.

Giroux eventually provided insurance on a high, hard shot from the left wing at the 4:57 mark, but the Leafs came back on
a delayed penalty as Bolland converted a Mason Raymond rebound at
6:18.

Phaneuf had trouble handling the puck in the high
slot, and after Brayden Schenn came up with the strip, Simmonds
scored to the far post with 7:21 to play and the Flyers established
their winning score of 4-2.

“I’ve
been saying it for the last two weeks at least. When you’re coming from
behind you’ve got to open up a little bit and that obviously gives them
a little bit more open space that you
don’t want to give usually. It’s tough when you’re coming from behind
and we’ve got to find a way to correct it," Phaneuf stated.

Seconds into a 5-on-3 advantage
and only 5:35 after the opening faceoff, the hosts went up 1-0 after
Lecavalier ripped a one-timer home from the right circle off a Kimmo
Timonen dish.

Lecavalier was suddenly demoted to the fourth line after an unsuccessful stint on the left wing, an unnatural position. He ended up with three shots on goal and was credited with three hits in 13:32 of ice time, no doubt helped along by spending time on the club's second power-play unit.

"Well
I think we played a great game as a line and being back in the middle, I
felt very comfortable so I have to give credit to my teammates," offered Lecavalier. "I think
Hallsy and Rino,
I think we played really well together. I thought we were close a few
times but I think we overall played a good game.”

Toronto had its first goal wiped out just
before the midway point of the period as Joffrey Lupul made contact
with Mason in the crease prior to a successful shot by Carl
Gunnarsson.

Van Riemsdyk then managed to set a pair of
records by scoring just four seconds into the second: fastest goal
from the start of a period for the Leafs and fastest goal surrendered
from the start of a period by the Flyers.

It bested the
previous mark set by Mats Sundin, six seconds into OT in a 4-3 win
against St. Louis on Dec. 30, 1995. Bengt Gustafsson scored five
seconds into the third period of a 4-1 Capitals win against Philly on
Jan. 18, 1983.

Hartnell restored his club's one-goal edge
when he batted a Timonen point offering out of mid-air and past Reimer
with 8:57 left.

Notes: Philadelphia improved to 19-2-1 this season when Giroux scores a
goal ... Lecavalier's goal leaves him one shy of 400 for his career ...
The Flyers have won eight of their last 11 home games against the Leafs
since January of 2009 ... Toronto, Columbus, which lost in regulation
against Pittsburgh, and both idle Washington and Detroit have 80
points and are vying for the final two postseason slots.